How to Write a Bar Business Plan: Section-by-Section Guide (2026)

To write a bar business plan, you put your bar on paper in eight parts: an executive summary, a company description, a market analysis, your team and structure, your drink menu and pricing, your marketing, your funding request and your financial projections. For a bar, two extra pieces carry a lot of weight: a liquor license plan and a realistic startup budget. Write it for the person you need a yes from (a lender, a landlord or a partner), keep the numbers honest, and you can get a solid first draft done in about two weeks. This guide walks through every section with what to put in it and a simple plan to finish.

New to the numbers side? Read how much it costs to open a bar alongside this. Your plan is built on that budget.

Who your bar business plan is really for

A business plan isn’t homework. It’s a sales document for your bar, and it has a few readers:

• Lenders. The SBA says to have a business plan, an expense sheet and five years of financial projections ready before you ask for a loan.
• Partners and investors. They want to see what they’re buying into, how they get paid back and how much control they get.
• Landlords. A good space often has more than one person interested. A clear plan helps you look like the safer tenant.
• You. Writing it forces you to answer the hard questions (license, lease, labor, pricing) before you sign anything.

That last one matters most. A plan that makes you change your concept on paper is way cheaper than learning the same thing after you open.

Traditional plan or lean plan: which one do you need?

The SBA describes two formats:

For most bars, you’ll end up needing the traditional version, because almost nobody opens a bar without a loan, a partner or a landlord asking questions. A good move: do the lean one-pager first to test the idea, then build it out into the full plan.

The 8 sections of a bar business plan (and what to put in each)

These follow the SBA’s traditional plan outline, translated for a bar.

1. Executive summary

Write this last, put it first. One page. A busy lender should be able to read only this and know what you want.

• Bar name, concept and location (or target neighborhood)
• Who’s behind it and why you can run it
• How much money you need and what it’s for
• Your expected sales and when you expect to break even

2. Company description

Explain the bar in plain words. What kind of bar is it? A neighborhood bar, a cocktail bar, a taproom, a wine bar? Who is it for, and why will they pick you on a Tuesday night?

Example line: “A 45-seat neighborhood cocktail bar for the apartment crowd on Main Street, with a short menu of classics, a happy hour that runs 4 to 6, and trivia on slow nights.”

Be specific. “A fun bar with great drinks” tells a lender nothing.

3. Market analysis

Show you know the area. Keep it practical:

• Your guest: age range, what they do for work, when they go out, what they spend.
• Foot traffic: nearby offices, apartments, venues, colleges. Go count people at the times you’d be open.
• Other bars nearby: what they do well, their prices, how busy they get. The goal is to find the gap you fill, not to knock anyone.
• Local rules: zoning, hours and how many liquor licenses are available in your city.

Visit the bars near your spot on a Friday and a Tuesday. Note the crowd, the price of a beer and a cocktail, and what people seem to be there for. That’s real market research, and lenders can tell the difference.

4. Organization and management

Cover two things: your legal structure (LLC, corporation, partnership) and your team. If you’ve bartended or managed a bar, say so up front. If you haven’t, name the experienced general manager or bar manager you plan to hire. Lenders look hard at whether someone on the team has run a bar before.

If you have partners, spell out who owns what, who makes which decisions and who works in the business day to day.

5. Your drinks and service (the “product line”)

This is your menu and how you price it:

• Draft and bottled beer, wine by the glass and bottle, spirits, cocktails, non-alcoholic options
• Food, if any (and who makes it)
• Your target pour cost and how you’ll hit it
• Extras that bring money in: private events, buyouts, live music, trivia

Show your pricing math. Our guide on how to price cocktails walks through the pour cost formula, and the free pour cost calculator lets you check every drink before it goes on the menu.

6. Marketing and sales

How do people find out about you, and why do they come back?

• Pre-opening: Google Business Profile, social accounts, a soft opening for neighbors and local businesses
• Ongoing: weekly events, happy hour, a regulars program, local partnerships
• Slow nights: what you do to fill a Monday

Keep it to what you’ll really do. A short list you’ll stick to beats a long list you won’t.

7. Funding request

The SBA says to state how much you need, whether it’s debt or equity, the terms you want and how you’ll use the money. For a bar, break it into uses: build-out, equipment, license, opening inventory, pre-opening payroll and working capital.

If you’re going after an SBA 7(a) loan, a few facts worth knowing:

• The standard 7(a) loan goes up to $5 million and can cover working capital, equipment, furniture and fixtures, real estate and buying an existing business.
• You apply through a participating lender, not the SBA itself. SBA’s Lender Match tool helps you find one.
• Startups put money in too. A Congressional Research Service summary of the SBA’s current rules (SOP 50 10 8) says startups need an equity injection of 10% of project costs.

Short on cash for that 10%? Our guide on how to open a bar with no money covers partners, taking over an existing bar and other ways to close the gap.

8. Financial projections

This is where lenders spend the most time. The SBA says lenders want projections that match your funding request and show the business can stay stable and profitable. It recommends five years of forecasts, with the first year broken out monthly or quarterly.

Build three things:

• Startup budget: everything you spend before the first drink is sold.
• Sales forecast: covers, average check and nights open.
• Monthly profit and loss: sales minus pour cost, labor, rent and everything else.

For the startup budget, here’s a public reference point to sanity-check your numbers. Homebase puts the cost to open a bar at $174,000 to $850,000, around $425,500 on average, with this rough breakdown:

Source: Homebase. Your city, state and space will move every line. Get real quotes for your plan.

Plug your own numbers into the free bar startup cost calculator to get a total you can drop straight into this section.

A simple way to build the sales forecast. Work from the bottom up, not from what you hope to make:

Guests per night × average spend per guest × nights open per month = monthly sales

Here’s how that looks with made-up example numbers (not benchmarks, use your own): 80 guests × $30 average spend × 26 nights = $62,400 a month. Then run it again at 70% and 50% of that guest count. Lenders like seeing a slow-case version, and it shows you how long your working capital lasts if the first few months are quiet.

Labor. Build your schedule shift by shift, then cost it out. For a public reference point, the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists median bartender pay at $16.51 an hour as of May 2025, and that figure includes tips. Tipped minimum wage rules vary by state and some cities set higher minimums, so check yours.

Want a feel for what’s left for you at the end? How much bar owners make walks through the owner pay math.

Two bar-only sections most plans skip

Your liquor license plan

The license is often the biggest unknown in a bar plan, and it shapes your timeline, your budget and even your location. Your plan should say:

• Which license type you need (full liquor, or beer and wine only where your state allows it)
• Whether new licenses are available in your city or you’d need to buy an existing one
• Your expected cost and timeline, with the source (your state’s alcohol board)
• What happens to your budget if approval takes longer than planned

There’s a federal step too. TTB requires retail alcohol dealers like bars to register before they start doing business, separately for each location, and to keep records of every beer, wine and spirits delivery they receive. TTB’s page doesn’t cover state licensing, so your state rules still apply on top of it.

Your lease and location

Include the address (or target area), square footage, seat count, rent and lease terms. If you haven’t signed yet, say what you’re looking for and what you can afford. A big tip: try not to sign a lease until you know you can get a liquor license at that address. Your plan is a great place to show a lender you’ve thought about that order.

That’s a lot of moving parts: a budget, a sales forecast, a license plan and a written plan that ties it all together. You don’t have to build it from a blank page.

How to write a bar business plan in 14 days

Here’s a simple schedule that gets you to a full first draft. An hour or two a day is plenty.

Common bar business plan mistakes (and easy fixes)

• Sales built from hope. Fix: build from guests × spend × nights, and add a slow case.
• No working capital. Fix: budget for the months before you’re busy. Running short on cash early is a common way good bars get into trouble.
• Funding request that doesn’t match the budget. Fix: the uses of funds should add up to the exact total you’re asking for.
• The license as an afterthought. Fix: give it its own section with cost, timeline and a backup plan.
• Too long, too vague. Fix: tight sentences, real numbers, sources for anything you didn’t make up yourself.

Your bar business plan checklist

• ☐ One-page executive summary with your ask and break-even timing
• ☐ Clear concept, guest and location
• ☐ Market notes from real visits
• ☐ Legal structure and team, with bar experience called out
• ☐ Drink menu with pour cost targets
• ☐ Marketing plan you’ll really follow
• ☐ Funding request with uses of funds that match your budget
• ☐ Startup budget, sales forecast and monthly P&L (5 years, year one monthly)
• ☐ Liquor license plan with cost, timeline and backup
• ☐ Lease and location details

Still mapping out the bigger picture? Our step-by-step guide on how to open a small bar shows where the business plan fits in the whole process.

Bar business plan FAQ

How long should a bar business plan be?

Long enough to answer a lender’s questions and no longer. The SBA notes traditional plans can run dozens of pages, while a lean plan is usually one page. Most bar owners going for a loan need the traditional format.

What do lenders look at first in a bar business plan?

The SBA says lenders and investors look closely at the funding request and financial projections, and want them to match. Make sure your uses of funds add up and your sales forecast is realistic.

Do I need a business plan to get a liquor license?

It depends on your state and city, so check with your state’s alcohol board. Even where it isn’t required, having your plan done makes the application easier, because you’ll already know your concept, location, hours and funding.

How much money do I need to put in myself for an SBA loan?

A Congressional Research Service summary of the SBA’s current rules (SOP 50 10 8) says startups need an equity injection of 10% of project costs. Your lender sets the final terms.

Can I write a bar business plan with no experience?

Yes. Be honest about it in the management section and show how you’ll cover the gap, like hiring an experienced bar manager or bringing in a partner who has run a bar.